Archway Publishing review: what it costs, what the contract says, what authors report

Archway Publishing sells five packages, from $2,599 to $18,599, on its comparison chart (checked 18 October 2026; archived copy).

Prices exclude tax, and shipping on the free copies is charged later. Editing is extra and priced per word in the services store, with a 5,000-word minimum:

• Line editing: $0.041 per word, which is $3,280 for an 80,000-word book (our arithmetic).
• Content editing: $0.048 per word, or $3,840 for 80,000 words.
• Developmental editing: $0.094 per word, or $7,520 for 80,000 words.
• Editorial assessment: $499 for "typically the first chapter or about 1,700 words", with a $299 credit toward later editing.

So a Pathfinder book with a line edit comes to about $5,879 before tax. For context, see what it costs to publish a book by each route.

Archway publishes its standard contract, a nine-page Services and Distribution Agreement linked from its FAQ (checked 19 October 2026). Xlibris and AuthorHouse use the same document, word for word apart from the name. Clause 1 keeps copyright in your manuscript with you. While the agreement runs, you grant Archway "The exclusive, transferable, worldwide license to ... print, publish, market, sublicense, distribute, and sell ... the Work". Archway's FAQ says the opposite: "We do not license exclusive publishing rights from you; our non-exclusive contract allows you to continue exploring other publishing avenues". Ask which applies before you sign.

The ISBN and the design stay with Archway. Clause 1 lists "imprint logos, imprint names, trademarks, barcodes, and ISBN's" as its property, and the book and cover design as its "Work Product". Its FAQ says it does not accept an ISBN you already own.

Royalties (clause 4) are "Ten percent (10%) of the Suggested Retail Price for each sale of the individual Work in print format through one of Our Contractors", and 25% on Archway's own bookstore. That settles a second FAQ page that describes net receipts. E-books earn 50% of the list price less discounts and taxes, and subscription or lending models 30% of what Archway receives. Archway's own worked example turns a $3.99 Kindle sale into $1.40 for the author. At KDP's 70% rate the same sale pays $2.79 before delivery costs. Archway sets the list price unless you buy its Set Your Own Price program (clause 3).

Royalties are paid within 90 days after each quarter, by direct deposit to a US bank account, and can be held until they reach $75. Copies you buy through a consultant "do not generate royalties and are nonreturnable", its FAQ says.

To leave, clause 5 says "Either Party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, with written notice to the other Party." Refunds follow a schedule. Before you send the manuscript you get 100% back within six months of buying, less $150 from six to 12 months, and nothing after that. Once you send it the refund is 50% of the price, and after you approve the final proof it is nothing. On request, Archway sends the book's PDF within 30 days "with Our Property removed". Installment buyers pay a $75 non-refundable fee (clause 2), and disputes go to binding individual arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (clause 10).

Every package includes cover and interior design, an e-book and a paperback, an ISBN, a Library of Congress number, and listing with Ingram and Baker & Taylor, which feed Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Higher tiers add copies, press releases, a website and a bookstore returns program (12–36 months). The agreement also lets Archway use AI tools to deliver its services, with "a human review" of their output (clause 1).

What you do not get is editing. The FAQ says packages "do not include other editorial services", and Trailblazer's assessment covers a sample of about 1,700 words. A full line edit adds $3,280 for 80,000 words. An independent copyeditor (the person who checks every comma) costs $2,400–3,200 for the same book at the EFA's 2026 median rates, and a developmental edit $3,200–4,000.

Doing it yourself on Amazon KDP costs $0 to publish, plus $125 for your own ISBN from Bowker if you want one.

Does Simon & Schuster self-publish books?

Not under its own name. Archway's FAQ answers "Am I being published by Simon & Schuster?" with "No", and says the services are provided "by a team of specialists at Author Solutions". It also says Simon & Schuster "has provided guidance and helped develop the publishing packages". Its site says a board of Simon & Schuster editors reviews "select titles" for possible acquisition, and its chart lists one children's title bought by Simon & Schuster's Aladdin imprint. Every package includes that review, called "Opportunity for Discovery" (all as of 18 October 2026). Archway's agreement adds that "Simon & Schuster, LLC and its affiliates are not parties to this Agreement", and lets Archway assign the agreement to Simon & Schuster or its designee (clause 12).

Archway Publishing reviews average 3.8 out of 5 from 452 reviews on Trustpilot, checked 18 October 2026. The profile is claimed and carries a paid Trustpilot subscription. One reviewer wrote: "Quality of my book surpassed expectations. Several staff who helped were terrific" (a Trustpilot reviewer, October 2026). Another wrote that Archway is "an excellent publisher but don't promote your book and are high price for publisher" (a Trustpilot reviewer, September 2026).

Archway has no BBB profile of its own. The rating is shared across brands: one BBB profile for Author Solutions, LLC lists Archway, AuthorHouse, Xlibris, WestBow Press and about 15 other names. That profile shows an A+ rating, BBB accreditation since 2010, and 73 complaints in three years, 26 of them in the last 12 months. Its 25 customer reviews average 1.68 stars. The BBB says "Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of the BBB Letter Grade Rating." Complaint counts are not split by brand.

The Alliance of Independent Authors rates Archway "Caution" on its Watchdog list. Writer Beware covered the launch in "Archway Publishing: Simon & Schuster Adds a Self-Publishing Division" (28 November 2012). On Reddit, authors weigh it in "Is Archway Publishing a path forward or waste of money?" (r/selfpublish, 32 comments, September 2025) and "Opinions on Self-Publishing through archway publishing" (r/selfpublish, March 2022).

An Archway Publishing lawsuit search on CourtListener on 18 October 2026 found no case with Archway in the case name. Cases naming Author Solutions include:

• Mary Simmons and Jodie Foster v. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., No. 1:13-cv-02801 (S.D.N.Y., filed 2013). The docket shows class certification denied in July 2015, an order of discontinuance after a reported settlement on 12 August 2015, and a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice on 14 September 2015.
• Everette v. Author Solutions LLC, No. 1:14-cv-01827 (S.D. Ind., filed 2014), consolidated with Wheeler v. Author Solutions LLC. The docket shows a voluntary dismissal with prejudice on 15 September 2015.
• Cascade Systems LLC v. Author Solutions LLC, No. 1:26-cv-00608 (D. Del., filed 2026), a patent case. The docket shows a voluntary dismissal on 29 July 2026.

1. Read the agreement before you pay, and ask which wins where it differs from the FAQ on exclusive rights.
2. Note when the refund drops: to 50% once you send the manuscript, and to nothing after you approve the final proof.
3. Price the edit your book needs at $0.041–0.094 per word, and add it to the package total.
4. Ask for the open design files before you sign. If you leave, the agreement promises a PDF "with Our Property removed", and the ISBN stays with Archway.
5. Ask what the marketing credit ($200–500) buys, and whether you will be offered more services by phone.

• BookBaby: its FAQ puts a fully produced book at $2,000–7,000, the same range as Archway's first three packages.
• Palmetto Publishing: packages "start around $1,598", and it prices editing per word too ($0.038 for a copyedit).
• KDP plus a freelancer: $0 to publish, and $2,400–3,200 for an 80,000-word copyedit at EFA rates, with every royalty point yours.

The best self-publishing companies, compared covers the wider field.